Lily Potter and the Legend of the Lion
by Luna the HP fan
Summary: Lily Potter is the daughter of the famous Harry Potter but that doesn't mean she can't live her own life! Book 1: Lily dreams she is a golden knight that gets saved by a golden lion which ties in very closely to an old Hogwarts myth: the Legend of the Lion. Along with the arrival of her cousins (and her wand not helping matters) Lily's first year at Hogwarts is going to be exciting
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I do not own this. Some of the characters in this book are J.K. Rowling's own characters. I just love HP so much that I wanted to continue the series on. By the way, this whole story is my own imagination. I am not suggesting that-wait! Spoilers! :)

Chapter 1  
Signed and Sealed

_Lily stood in the midst of a war. Shoots of light spun past her, hitting people and buildings - both crumbled to the ground. But she did not crumple when the light hit her. People who had not fallen rushed past her, hurrying to a place she did not know. When they brushed her she did not feel it. Even the sound of shouting and explosions were muffled and no smells came into contact with her nose._

_Lily blinked slowly. The battle slowed and she moved equally slowly. She felt heavy and, glancing down (ever so slowly), saw she was wearing what appeared to be golden armour, a sword in its sheaf and a golden shield across her back. In her hand was a strip of narrow wood - her wand. No time to look anymore she was here – wherever here was. This was where all the commotion was coming from, all the chaos. Lily expected to see some sort of dark wizard or witch, throwing spells at everything that moved or some sort of horrible monster with talons and teeth dripping with human blood. Or (heaven forbid) a wounded dragon snapping and breathing fire at everything that still lived. She braced herself for the worst and saw... the twisted remains of an iron cage, the ends bent, smoking and the colour of fire - as if they had been recently burnt. The iron dripped on to the ground. Drip, drip._

_'He's escaped,' Lily thought, (she could not explain why she thought 'him' - the thought had just entered her mind as if it was not her's at all). Lily did not know why the idea filled her with equal amounts of joy, sadness, anger and dread. Of course all this made her very confused so she stood there trying to untangle the knot of ideas that was her brain. Suddenly, she heard the *shinx* of a sword being drawn from its sheaf. Lily spun round quickly - which is no mean feat for someone in full armour. A knight in pure black armour was standing three feet away from her, his silver sword glinting with malice._

_Before Lily could even draw her ruby encrusted sword (she could hardly believe it either) a golden shape flew over her head and thudded to the ground in front of her. The knight stumbled backwards and the shape pounced - a roar as mighty as Niagara Falls split through the night sending Lily to her knees, her hands over her ears. The shape turned and, just for a second, met her gaze with his own amber stare. He shook his magnificent mane and roared again. Lily shut her eyes..._

Lily woke up with a jolt. She breathed heavily the roar still echoing in her ears. It was early morning and according to her alarm clock around 6:30. She rubbed her eyes sleepily. What day was it? Tuesday 24th July. Something important was going to happen today. If only she could remember what.

Lily pulled back the covers of her Illegal Spells bedspread (THE greatest wizarding band in the entire universe!) and walked to her window. It overlooked the east wood and sure enough a watery sun hung just under the treetops like a poached egg. Just then an owl screeched over the housetops of Godric's Hollow either flying back to its nest to have a snooze or flying to the recipient of a letter clutched in its beak. 'I hardly ever get mail' thought Lily, wistfully thinking of her cousin, Hugo, the only one who ever wrote to her. Their family owl had a broken wing and using his sister, Rose's owl was not an option. Lily rested her head on her hands. Even so, she hadn't heard from him in three weeks and once in a while it was nice to talk to someone who hadn't been to Hogwarts. Lily jerked upright. Hogwarts. The letters. She grinned. Maybe she was going to get some post after all...

Half an hour later, when she could wait no longer, Lily bounded down the stairs in a t-shirt and jeans, a sweatshirt tied round her waist. She ran into the kitchen, skidded across the tile floor and collided painfully with the kitchen table, knocking her father's tea on to the floor. She winced at the sound of breaking china. Her mother gave her a stern look, "Lily Nymphadora Potter will you be careful! Look what you've done! You've knocked your father's tea on to the floor! That was a nice brew as well," "Don't worry Ginny, I can at least save the cup. See, Reparo." Lily's dad, Harry Potter, reassured them. At the mutter of the Repairing Spell the cup pieces sprang together and flew into Harry's hand. Albus gaped at the cup as it was given to Ginny to re-fill, "How did you get it into your hand?" he asked. Harry shrugged, "Practise,"

Lily sat down, rubbing the bruise blooming on her hip. A plate of scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and toast was set down in front of her along with a glass of orange juice. James mentioned Quidditch and the topic of conversation took off. Albus, James and Harry got into such a heated argument about where the Kenmare Kestrels would finish in the league that it was a while before Lily could get a say. Finally, after half an hour of James wondering who would be made Captain this year in the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, he paused to take a sip of water. Lily took advantage of his momentary silence to say, "Are the Hogwarts letters coming today, dad?" Harry sipped his tea, "Yes, I believe so Lily. In fact, I believe that's them now," he added, glancing out the window. Lily ran to the open window and looked out at the almost blue sky. Two owls were flying towards their house – wait, was that a third owl flying towards them? And a fourth?! "Gang way! Clear the table! Owl overload coming straight at us!" She grabbed her juice off the table and Ginny stacked the plates neatly on the draining board. A few seconds later, two owls landed gracefully on to the table, one landed on the windowsill and the last one landed on the butter dish that Ginny was just about to clear away.

The two owls on the table hopped over to James and Albus, sticking out their legs for them to untie the letters they carried. Ginny went over to their family owl, Mercury, and carried him to the perch just inside the back door. Lily stared at the owl in front of her, 'Why did it land in the butter dish?' she thought, puzzled. 'Must be new. It is rather smaller than the others' Lily put the owl's strange arrival out of her mind. She took the letter from its beak and the other owls flew out the window. Hers, however, didn't. She stared at it and it stared back. She stared right into its eyes and she felt like she was drowning, drowning in pools of amber, emerald and sky, flashes of images swimming in and out of her line of vision and screeching, that turned into pleading, that turned into screaming. A lot of screaming. Lily wanted to stop the screaming, to help whoever was screaming. She was drowning, drowning.

The owl blinked. Lily blinked. The owl hooted softly, as if to comfort her, and flew out the window. Nobody seemed to notice. James and Albus were too busy comparing their lists (Albus had taken one of the same classes as James and both were wondering if he would get the same books) Ginny was reading the letter brought by Mercury with a slight frown and Harry was eating the rest of his toast, watching Ginny with a look of concern. Lily suddenly felt as if she didn't want to read her letter here – she would read it later, in her room, in her own time. Albus glanced at her, opening his mouth to say something when Ginny said, "Harry. It's your cousin, Dudley. He's written us a letter."

Harry got up from the table slowly. He took the letter and read it, quickly. His frown got deeper and deeper as he got further down the page and once done said, "I'll leave by ten, I just need to pack a few things…" He walked out the kitchen and up the stairs. Ginny and James followed, James asking his mother what was going on. Albus turned to Lily and murmured, "What the heck was that all about?"

A few minutes after Harry had left, Lily went up to her room to open her Hogwarts letter alone. She broke open the red wax seal and slipped out the letter. It said all the usual stuff that she had seen on James, and then Albus', letter. She gave a sigh of relief. 'At least the weirdness stopped here' she thought. Then Lily noticed the spidery writing on the back. Her heart thumped and her breath came out in short gasps as she re-read the writing:

_Watch your back…_

* * *

Please review as otherwise I shall be going paranoid with not knowing what you think of my story! I know it's a bit of a slow start but if I don't get at least one review I will stop writing and lose the will to live! Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you to TheEndangeredGinger for her review as it made me smile and gave me the faith to continue! Thank you! Same to eveningstars!

I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter, his world or the characters in that world (I wish).

On with the story…

Chapter 2

Secrets and Surprises

It was late evening by the time Harry did come back. Lily was playing clock patience with an old pack of wizard cards (like normal cards except the pictures moved) and eating a chocolate frog. She was just scowling at the Queen of Spades– who was flirting with the Jack and causing the King to go very red (with anger or embarrassment she didn't know)- when she heard a faint _*pop*_ coming from the garden and the next second there was a quiet knock at the door. The back door.

Lily pushed her bedroom door open very gently and crept on to the landing. The back door was right beneath her and sure enough she could hear a conversation ensuing. "Well? How did it go?" Ginny asked. "Are they…?" "Oh yes. Did the right practises and everything. They passed every test. I even brought a portable Bogart – every time it tried to touch him it recoiled as if hit by an invisible wall and every time it tried to touch her, the trees' branches moved to protect her. I must say that was something I hadn't seen before," Harry replied. There was a sharp intake of breath and then Ginny whispered, "How did Dudley and Darcy take it?" Lily strained to hear what came next, her interest pricked at the sound of her Uncle and Aunt's name. "Surprisingly well. Darcy was very excited about the prospect of being part of the wizarding world and Dudley just nodded which was a miracle in itself," Harry replied. There was a moment of silence. Then, "Where are the kids?" "James is at the park, sulking because I wouldn't tell him what was in the letter, Albus is looking for Grindylows in the small lake in the wood, you know how he is with the care of magical creatures and he thought that they looked a bit peaky yesterday. Lily is up in her room."

Lily grimaced. She always felt like her parents shortlisted her – as if she was so boring and predictable that six words could describe her perfectly. After all, she was just the forgotten younger child, who doesn't need to be bothered with because _she's_ not in Hogwarts yet. Harry and Ginny lowered their voices even more and Lily balanced on the edge of the top step in an effort to hear them. "The thing is something happened as I was travelling to the field at the back of their street, where I could safely Disapparate. Something that hasn't happened since I was seventeen years old. You see-"_CREEEK!_ Lily's foot had slipped onto the only creaky stair. She quickly, but softly, ran to the end of the landing and dodged round the corner. She heard Harry poke his head out of the kitchen and peer up the stairs. "Let's talk about this later. I don't want Lily to hear this from her bedroom." Harry walked into the living room and turned the radio on. After a moment, Ginny followed.

Lily, her heart thumping, frowned. What was it that her father didn't want her hearing? She had never heard her father scared before or even remotely nervous. Yet the tone of voice her dad had just used sounded close. Lily walked back into her room, barely noticing when she stood on the Queen of Spades (but she smiled at the disgusted look on the card's face). What could her dad be hiding? And why? She glanced at the clock. 7:30. Albus would be coming back in half an hour, James in an hour unless Albus goes to drag him home at 8:15. Maybe her dad would tell them all then. With that in mind, Lily picked up The Tales of Beedle the Bard, turned to The Fountain of Fair Fortune and began to read, hoping to find out what the problem was in an hour or two.

Five days later and Lily still had almost no idea what Harry had been talking about. Which annoyed her because she didn't like not knowing things. There was a reason why Ginny hid her birthday presents at Uncle Bill's house.

To add insult to the injury, Hugo still hadn't written to her. She had written him 5 letters, telling him about her Hogwarts letter, the owl and the letter from her Uncle. She even told him about Harry's whispered conversation to Ginny even though she knew if Hugo's parents saw the letter she'd be in big trouble. The only thing she didn't tell him was her dream about the golden lion. It just felt a bit too personal to voice.

Lily sat at her desk writing her sixth letter to Hugo - don't judge her, she was bored and getting desperate - after a rather awkward dinner where James demanded to know why Harry had gone to Dudley's and then was sent to his room for shouting. Harry went up to his room just before dessert to try and reason with him. The amount of shouting and the volume of the front door being slammed by James was enough to lose your appetite. Even if it was Mr Fortescue's Butterbeer Brew ice cream ('A drop of Butterbeer in every spoonful!') – a rarity in the Potter Household.

Finishing the letter, Lily sealed it and went to her bedroom window to wait for Mercury who was off delivering a letter somewhere. An amber sun was setting on the horizon reminding Lily of the coming night and the dreams it would bring. In a strange way, she was beginning to fear her dreams of the golden lion – it was always the same dream each time and the black knight especially scared her. The knight was going to kill her without a moment of hesitation. One jab and she would have died. And that terrified her even if it was only a dream.

Lily was so deeply in thought that it took a while for her to register that an owl was flying straight towards her. In fact it was only when the owl was a metre away that she realised it was there and jumped back. It flew through the window, landed on her bedpost and stuck out its leg as if bored. The owl rustled its tawny feathers importantly and it struck Lily that the bird looked familiar. She crossed her room and studied the messenger. It was a tawny owl with chocolate brown eyes, a snowy white face and an unusually large curved beak. It hooted indignantly and hopped a bit to keep balance as if it was saying 'Hurry up! I haven't got all day!'.

Lily went to take the letter but she had barely gone two feet before the owl reached out and sharply nipped her finger. "Ow! Hey! What was that for, you little nip-". She gasped. "Nipper! Your wing's healed!" Lily squealed, greeting the Weasley's family owl. " Which means that the letter must be from Hugo! Finally!". She fed Nipper some left over Cauldron Cake as a thank you and then sat on her bed to read the letter from Hugo.

_Dear Lily,_

_Sorry for not writing sooner and knowing you, you're probably on you sixth letter by now _(Lily smiled) _and just so you know I got your other five letters as well. The conversation Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had, does seem a little weird but I think they'll tell you soon enough. And when they do please tell me because I'm nosy like that! _(Lily laughed) _The letter was also a bit weird but it could be just someone playing a joke. I have to admit though, the owl I have no explanation for. Maybe you were just tired or you're just what I have always suspected – completely nuts!_ J

_Write to you soon – no more stony silences from me I assure you!_

_Lots of cousinly love,_

_Hugo xxx __J_

Although it wasn't the comfort letter Lily was expecting it did make her laugh and she did feel better after reading it. She glanced at the time. 9:32. Lily yawned, flopped on to her bed fully clothed and fell asleep instantly.

Lily tiptoed down the stairs trying not to wake the whole house over a simple cup of water. She padded into the silent kitchen grabbed a bottle of water and, as an afterthought, an apple from the fruit basket (a girl gets hungry at 3am). She plopped down onto a chair and crunched into her apple, staring at the past on the table. There was the burn from when James got his hands on his first Filibuster firework. There were the scratch marks from when Albus tried to bring a Red Cap home. There was the dent from when Lily did her first bit of accidental magic and made a hammer chase James because he had turned her doll's hair blue. And there was… _there was the letter from Uncle Dudley lying face down on the table._

Lily stopped mid chew and stared. She swallowed her mouthful of apple and considered her options. Who would know? She didn't have to tell anyone else. She had the right to know. It wasn't fair, keeping stuff from kids. They'd just find out eventually. That's what made them kids. That's what made her a kid. Besides, her brothers would find out soon. They could wait. She couldn't.

'Screw it!' Lily thought, 'I'm looking at it!' She snatched the letter off the table and began to read. Her eyes grew wider and wider as she read. Suddenly everything made sense. The frown of her parents, the conversation even why they wouldn't tell her. Lily grinned. She couldn't wait 'till morning and confront her parents about this, whether she got in trouble or not. She took another bite from her apple and went up to bed, still clutching the letter in her left hand.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry! I'm sorry for not showing you the letter yet! I just thought it would keep you reading! I'm sorry! *Hides in corner, buries head in knees* Besides *head resurfaces* I've given you loads of clues so see if you can guess and include it in the reviews!

So, like the chapter? I don't like it as much as the first one. Too many questions! But please review and tell me what you think! :) Peace out devoted readers! :D


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey my beloved readers! To start off this author's note, how about a few addresses?

First of all, I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating sooner! First I got writer's block, then I was ill, then I got caught up in school work and homework and then I got banned from Fanfiction for a while (that was a bad few weeks L). So, yeah, here we are! I promise to try my absolute best at updating sooner but that will be easy now because in the next chapter, I get to do a lot of describing. Squeeeeeeee! Thank you to all my lovely and wonderful reviews 'cos you're the reason I write! I want to be an author as well so I figured here would be a good start.

Oh, and just to clear a few things up, by the way, I am a girl! Random note and stuff

I do not own Harry Potter or anything the amazing J.K. Rowling has written (this is gonna get old fast, isn't it?)

To infinity and beyond! J

Chapter 3

The Cousins

Lily paced her room as an amber sun peeked over the horizon. Early morning sunlight crept into the room illuminating the crisp white paper and biro pen ink on the letter that lay on Lily's bedside table. Lily stopped her pacing and read the letter one more time.

_Dear Harry and Ginny Potter,_

_Normally I wouldn't write to you in Your World's way but your owl turned up at my window this morning so I thought that he must be here to send the letter in the way you are most likely to receive it, quickly and safely – and both are of the utmost importance. We have never exactly been close but we have always kept in touch just in case our worlds collided – which they have. This morning at eight, an owl flew through our kitchen window. As you can imagine Darcy screamed – you know how she cannot abide birds – and tried to hit with a broom. However, Derrick said over Darcy's shrieks, "I've never knew owl delivered the post! Is it a new system, Dad?" I stopped Darcy before she could beat the poor creature senseless and took a good look at the owl. Sure enough, it had two letters tied to its foot. It hopped over to the twins and stuck out its leg so they could untie them. The kids untied their letters hesitantly and the owl flew off. It was the Hogwarts letters, Harry, the same ones that came barrelling down Dad's chimney around 28 years ago. I would like you to come over to ours and check if my children are… are… are part of Your World. Do some tests, take some samples, chase them to see if they do some… some… some Stuff, I don't mind as long as it's not painful! Just, please, put me out of my misery, I just want to be sure. Please._

_Regards,_

_Dudley_

Lily put the letter down again. She had never met her cousins and therefore had no idea what they were like and she could only assume that they were around the same age as her by the letter. However, she could guess which house they would belong to. 'I wonder what house _I _belong to?' Lily wondered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by parents' bedroom door opening and the sound of two sets of feet walking down the stairs. The sound of the old, black, magical kettle being put on travelled up the stairs and the chink of mugs resounded through the house. Lily opened her bedroom door, clutching the letter. It was now or never.

Harry was exhausted. He hadn't slept at all the previous night, had a pounding headache and had just realised that the letter from Dudley he had accidently left on the table had disappeared overnight. Honestly, Dudley's news hadn't been the thing that was worrying him. It was the note Harry had stuck on the back that he had forgotten to take off. The note to remind him to tell Ginny about- "Dad! Mum! I've got to talk to you!" Lily exclaimed, bounding into the kitchen. To Harry's horror, she was clutching the letter in her right hand.

Lily took a deep breath. Then, "I found the letter…" There was silence for a long time, each family member probing their mind for a suitable answer, until, completely out of the blue, Harry gave a half-hearted laugh and said, "Surprise?" The anger Lily had been holding back for the good of the neighbourhood, burst it's barriers – Ginny closed her eyes, almost as if she was screaming, 'You idiot. She has my temper. Idiot.'

"HOW COULD YOU?! HOW COULD YOU KEEP THE FACT THAT, NOT ONLY DOES JAMES, ALBUS AND ME HAVE COUSINS OUR AGE BUT THAT NOW THEY ARE GOING TO HOGWARTS, A SECRET! I MEAN, WHAT WOULD WE DO TO THEM?! GRANTED James might play a few scary pranks on them and yes, Albus might scare/bore them with detailed explanations on different wizarding creatures," Lily rationalised, her voice growing quieter as she calmed down. "but what could I do?! I only use accidental magic when I'm scared or angry. AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING! HOW COULD YOU NOT NOTISE THAT THEY WERE A BIT MAGIC?! I MEAN YOU MUST HAVE NOTISED! YOU PROBABLY WENT OVER THERE A LOT, FOR PARTIES AND STUFF! I bet Delilah is like a n-new d-daughter to you! I know I'm too much of a disappointment!" Her voice broke, and slamming the letter on the table, she fled out the back door, into the wood, so they wouldn't see her cry.

Deeper and deeper she ran, the now golden sun blocked out by the dark canopies of the trees. Just ahead, she saw the old treehouse Harry had conjured for James' 8th birthday, which would be stocked with long expiry-date food, a few sleeping bags and entertainment for a week or two, in case James had to hide from Ginny trying to make him take a shower or Harry trying to ground him for a prank (both had given up trying when he was 13). Lily climbed up the ladder and crawled into a corner, dragging a sleeping bag with her. She unzipped it and draped it over herself, the early morning air biting her cheek and freezing her tears that were still falling freely down her face. She then got comfortable and cried. And cried. And cried, until she had cried herself into a light sleep.

* * *

_The knight in pure black armour was standing 3 feet away from her, his silver sword glinting with malice. The golden shape flew over Lily's head and pounced on his prey. Then his eyes met her's for a moment. He shook his mane and roared to the stars above. Lily's eyes closed…_

Lily woke with a start. She sighed in frustration. It was always the same dream, ever since the start of July. She wouldn't mind but the knight and the lion were invading her drawings – almost every page of her sketchbook had a different perspective of the dream, from the shoots of light that spun pass her to the lion's roar. It was rather annoying.

As the memories of what had happened flooded back to her, she felt guiltier and guiltier. She couldn't believe what she'd done it was so selfish and bratty. Of course Harry wouldn't have told them yet. It would be a shock and there would be overreactions like the one she pulled. Harry was just being sensible and smart. Nothing more. She was just being silly. She should go back and try to keep some peace when James and Albus found out. The sun wasn't far across the sky so Lily judged that she hadn't been asleep long so she climbed down the tree and headed back home.

* * *

When Lily snuck through the back door, she almost walked straight into James. She put on the brakes just in time and gave him an apologetic look. He looked down at her and simply said, "We know. Dad. Living room. Apologise." He then dodged round her, got some milk out of the fridge (although Harry loved the wizarding world, he couldn't deny that in the muggle world, there were some things worth keeping around) and started pouring himself a glass of milk. Lily took a breath and walked into the living room.

Harry was sitting on the sofa reading the sports page of the Prophet. "Uncle Ron's team doing well?" asked Lily, preferring to play Quidditch rather than follow it. "Second in the league so far, just behind the Tornadoes but tomorrow he'll tell you all about how they won't be there for long. We're going to Diagon Ally with all the cousins tomorrow and Hermione is going to run a few things by Dudley and Darcy. No need to apologise for running away but I suggest you write to Hugo and warn him about Derrick and Delilah. You may go," Harry said, casually, not even glancing at Lily. She turned to leave when something occurred to her, "Dad, what happened when you apparated away from Uncle Dudley's?" Harry gave her a hard look and seemed to be contemplating on what to say. Finally, he replied hurriedly, "I accidently splinched myself. Just the tip of my ear, nothing to worry about but still worth telling Ginny."

It was only when Lily sat down at her desk, that she realised Harry might not have been entirely truthful. But then, she reflected, it seemed like it was quite a personal question.

* * *

So, what do you think? Were you right? Did you guess that Dudley's kids were wizards? And what is Harry still hiding? Please tell me what you think!

So, review and I'll hopefully update soon! :) Peace out lovely people!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yeah, um, hi. First of all, thanks to lauryng because she was the first one to review chapter 3 and pick up on The Mirror of Eisred (sp?) comment as well. Even before my bff ChibiCake! :D Thanks for not deserting me in frustration! :) Also thanks to TheEndangeredGinger 'cause she actually (virtually) sat me down and forced me to write with her kind comments. Thanks SO much! (By the way, haven't seen you for a while, what happened? I got worried.)

Yeah, so lately I have been caught up in a lot of annoying stuff (usually called life) and writer's block loves me so I have been struggling. Also, now it's the summer, I'm supposed to be outside constantly and therefore tech free. Yay. So, very, very sorry and I have been trying my best. :)

Harry Potter and co. belongs to J. and not me. The only things that belong to me are my own characters who might make an appearance in this chapter. Hmmmm…

So continuing…

Chapter 4

The Wrong Fireplace

Lily secured her side ponytail with a lilac hair tie and a few white hair slides. Looking in the mirror, she studied her appearance. She had decided on a lilac tunic with frill around the collar, white leggings and white canvas pumps. It was the most understated look in her overly bright and slightly wacky wardrobe (Ginny said her fashion sense definitely lived up to her middle name's namesake, Luna) and she hoped it had the right effect on her cousins. God, she hoped they liked her. With a sigh she picked up her white bag and made her way to the living room fireplace.

"Well, don't you look plain," commented James, smirking. "For once," added Albus, with a similar smirk. Lily said nothing, silently admitting that it was a big change from her usual bright sunny yellow and electric pink tops with neon purple and sky blue jeans. Usually, you could spot Lily from over a mile away. In fact, her favourite outfit was a bright yellow sundress that 'Aunt' Luna had given her – it was her pride and joy.

"James you first," announced Harry, giving him the Floo Powder box. He took a pinch, shoved the box into Albus' hands then threw it into the fireplace. With a _whoosh_ of emerald green flames and a shout of _Diagon Alley!_ James had gone. Next was Albus and after a brief roar of flames he had disappeared as well. Then it was Lily's turn. Harry offered her the box and she dug her hand in, scooping up some of the powder. She tossed it into the grate, taking a deep breath as she did so. That was a big mistake. Ash collected in her lungs and she coughed, choking out a "D-diagmon A-aclly!"

Lily's living room spun out of sight and other rooms with wizarding fireplaces kept flashing in and out of vision. She loved this part – she actually wasn't a big fan of Floo Powder, preferring brooms or animals or portkeys (this was actually her first time as Harry wasn't keen on flooing either) but she was naturally nosy so she quite enjoyed looking in on another person's life. Yet something was wrong. The fireplaces were getting darker, slightly sootier and a tad grander. Suddenly the spinning slowed and, quickly, Lily thrust out her hands as she went flying out the end of what had to be the darkest, sootiest, grandest fireplace she'd ever seen. Brushing herself off, Lily looked around at the room she had just Flooed into.

It was a shop, quite possibly a pet shop of some sort or perhaps an Apothecary that housed live ingredients, with tanks of shrubbery that seemed to move occasionally and jars of liquid that definatly had something inside, however tiny. There were shelves of glasses and cages belonging to a whole array of exotic, magical and, what Lily suspected, illegal animals. Wooden boxes were piled on top of one another that shook and buzzed slightly as she navigated herself through the twining aisles. She thought she saw a three-headed weasel of some kind but when she doubled back, the cage was empty so she moved on.

Although she knew she wasn't supposed to be here, Lily couldn't help but stop a few times to marvel at the interesting creatures. She took a long time studying what appeared to be a black, jewelled snake and she rather enjoyed playing with the baby Hinkypunks in a tank full of fog and swamp. Once she saw a tank covered in a sheet of emerald green velvet. She was just about to lift the corner to see what was underneath when she noticed a note clipped to the edge of the velvet: _Basilisk Hatchlings: Do not remove cover. _Lily moved on quickly.

Finally, she came to an ornate archway with a curtain of royal purple hanging from the top. Listening carefully for any sounds from within she twitched the curtain aside and poked her head out. A counter and several more shelves, though clearly not as many as before, occupied the room and to the far right… a door! She could leave and find her family! After making sure no-one was around Lily ducked out from behind the curtain and crept towards the door. However, she hadn't even got halfway before she saw someone walking towards the door. 'Oh no!' Lily thought. They would know she didn't belong there – she got the impression this wasn't somewhere a 'light' wizard would go to, let alone a 10-year-old girl! HIDE! Lily dived underneath a tarp pulled over some wooden boxes, which proclaimed, '_Please keep dark._' She crouched there, trying not to breath, listening intently.

Less than a moment later, the door creaked open and two people walked in. From what Lily could see from underneath the tarp, 2 pairs of black dragon hide boots walked towards the counter – the larger pair rapped smartly on the tiled floor while the other, smaller pair clumped sulkily. The curtain rustled and someone (Lily presumed he was the owner) in black moccasins greeted the two and started to tend to the larger pair of boot's desires. Meanwhile, the smaller pair of boots started walking around, stopping occasionally to inspect a cage or tank.

Dust tickled Lily's nose. She sneezed. It was a tiny noise, barely heard at all but the someone in the boots stopped, turned and slowly walked over. Lily held her breath, trying not to move and wishing with all her might that the floor would open up and swallow her. A pale hand snaked up under the tarp, grabbed a fistful and lifted it up. Lily gasped.

It was a girl, perhaps slightly older than Lily herself, but a girl none-the-less. Her dark-brown hair was pulled into a French plait dotted with tiny golden flowers. Grey-blue eyes were framed by long eyelashes and ruby red lips contrasted her pale skin. She wore khaki combat trousers, a blood-red vest top with the word 'Freedom' on the front and a leather jacket with badges from a bunch of bands Lily had never heard of. The girls stared at eachother, daring the other to speak. Then Lily raised her finger to her lips. The girl grinned cheekily and returned the 'shush'. She dropped the tarp and moved away. Shortly after, Lily heard her drag the owner and what seemed to be her dad into the back room.

Lily crept out from underneath the tarp and ran for the door, silently thanking the dragon boots girl. She wrenched open the door and ran into the street. She immediately knew where she was – the gloomy alleys and amount of shifty and scary looking people were unmistakable. She had flooed into the middle Knockturn alley. Moving quickly, she started walking, not sure where she was going, just wanting to escape the creepy looks of those around her. Turning around, she got the feeling that someone was following her and began to panic, backing up. To her, it seemed as though everyone was getting closer, faster than a blink. Then, someone clamped a hand onto her shoulder and Lily screamed.

* * *

Hello! I really hope you can stay patient with me. I get bad headaches a lot and, like I said, it's summer now so my chances are narrowing. Also, I'm really bad at updating! Let's see, what else... Oh yeah! You're gonna hate me for this, I know, but I'm going on holiday in Malta! I'll be leaving on Sat. Tech free for two weeks - yay. However, I shall be taking various note books along with me so, naturally, I shall be working on holiday! :) Just like a true author! :D!

Please leave a review, I'm dying to know who's got this far! :)

Hope your holidays will be fantastic, whatever you're doing! See you again!

Luna ;)


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